Vegan vanilla wafers are wonderful on their own or in a banana pudding! They are easy to make and ready to eat in 30 minutes or less.
These vegan vanilla wafers are such simple but perfect little cookies! They’re great to have with your tea, but the more common way to use them is in a banana pudding (and you gotta know now there is a vegan banana pudding coming to this blog sometime in the future).
It’s not always easy to get a vegan version of vanilla wafers, but even if they’re readily available, nothing really beats homemade.
And if you love these cookies, then you’ll also love our vegan butter cookies and vegan coconut cookies.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Soy milk – can be switched for any non-dairy milk.
- Powdered sugar and granulated sugar – the combination of the two sugars make these cookies super light.
How To Make Vegan Vanilla Wafers
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder and salt. Mix together.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar and white granulated sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add vanilla extract and soy milk and mix in. Don’t worry if it doesn’t actually ‘mix’ properly, this will depend on the vegan butter you use, but whatever happens here, is fine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand (with a spoon or spatula, just don’t use the electric mixer for this part).
- Use a small cookie scoop (1 ½ teaspoons per cookie) to scoop dollops of batter (about 2 inches apart from each other) onto parchment lined baking sheets lined with parchment paper. You will likely need 2-3 large cookie sheets.
- Flatten the cookies by placing a piece of parchment paper on top of each cookie and then pressing down gently with the base of a glass.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be very lightly golden on top and lightly browned underneath.
- Let them cool and firm up directly on the tray, and then your cookies are ready to serve.
Baker’s Tips
Cookie scoop. Vanilla wafers are small cookies, so we use a very small cookie scoop. If you don’t have a cookie scoop then the amount is around 1 ½ teaspoons (½ Tablespoon) per cookie.
Bake one tray at a time. We got 84 cookies out of our batch (yes they are really that small!) so you will need to spread them over 2-3 large cookie trays. It’s best to bake them one tray at a time so that they bake evenly. Bake one batch and only when that’s done, then bake the next batch.
Gluten free. These cookies have not been tested as gluten free, but if you want to try it, then a gluten free all purpose baking blend would be the best option.
Storing and Freezing
Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you’re using them in a vegan banana pudding then it can be a good idea to leave them out overnight (uncovered) to make them a little stale as this tends to work best for a pudding.
You can also freeze them for 1 month.
More Vegan Cookies
Vegan Vanilla Wafers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (188g)
- ¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar (60g)
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g)
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup Soy Milk (60ml) or other non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder and salt. Mix together.
- Add vegan butter, powdered sugar and white granulated sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add vanilla extract and soy milk and mix in. Don't worry if it doesn't actually 'mix' properly, this will depend on the vegan butter you use, but whatever happens here, is fine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand (with a spoon or spatula, just don't use the electric mixer for this part).
- Use a small cookie scoop (1 ½ teaspoons per cookie) to scoop dollops of batter (about 2 inches apart from each other) onto parchment lined baking sheets lined with parchment paper. You will likely need 2-3 large cookie sheets.
- Flatten the cookies by placing a piece of parchment paper on top of each cookie and then pressing down gently with the base of a glass.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be very lightly golden on top and lightly browned underneath.
- Let them cool and firm up directly on the tray.
Notes
- Cookie scoop. Vanilla wafers are small cookies, so we use a very small cookie scoop. If you don’t have a cookie scoop then the amount is around 1 ½ teaspoons (½ Tablespoon) per cookie.
- Bake one tray at a time. We got 84 cookies out of our batch (yes they are really that small!) so you will need to spread them over 2-3 large cookie trays. It’s best to bake them one tray at a time so that they bake evenly. Bake one batch and only when that’s done, then bake the next batch.
- Gluten free. These cookies have not been tested as gluten free, but if you want to try it, then a gluten free all purpose baking blend would be the best option.
- Storing: Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you’re using them in a vegan banana pudding then it can be a good idea to leave them out overnight (uncovered) to make them a little stale as this tends to work best for a pudding. You can also freeze them for 1 month.
I used almond flour and it didn’t work at all.. my final product was burnt crap all over the cookie sheet.. likely will need a different gluten free flour 😂😂 should I use more baking powder with gluten free flour?
Hi Mary. Try using an all-purpose gltuen free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten free Baking flour. The baking powder ratio is perfect. 🙂
Does this recipe produce a crisp wafer cookie, or a softer cookie? I’m trying to find a recipe for vegan vanilla snaps, similar to the classic Nilla Wafers.
A great vanilla wafer texture, but a little flavorless. Maybe next time I will add more vanilla extract. Also, I eye-balled a teaspoon and a half, and I did not get anywhere near 84 cookies I believe my total was 29 cookies. Overall, a good, not-too-sweet cookie that goes well with tea.
These little cookies are delicious! The recipes of Alison and ‘loving it vegan’ are consistently successful. I look forward to her emails and another new favorite recipe. Thank you!
Thanks a million Susan! 🙂
Thanks Alison, I made these but my oven temperature was playing up. I ended up over cooking them but they were still really good. Plan on making again. Fingers crossed oven temperature cooperates.
So glad they still worked out well! 🙂
These are so delicious and so easy to make! They truly are made with pantry staples (which a lot of recipes claim, but then ask for weird ingredients). Perfect for when you want some cookies but not something overly sweet. Perfect with coffee or tea too!
Brilliant! Thanks so much Sara!
These are really good. I’ve been searching for a vegan vanilla wafer so thank you! I followed the recipe exactly and used a 1/2 tablespoon to measure them out. I didn’t get anywhere near 80 cookies, though. Probably 1/2 that much. Thank you so much for another delicious recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them Joanne! Yes the amount you get from a batch would vary depending on if the scoop was heaped or not, but as long as they came out well, that’s all that matters.